The top judge of the European Union's second-highest court has proposed changing judges in the Microsoft Corp. antitrust case, according to a letter sent to all parties in the case. The move, shared with Reuters on Sunday by some of those who have seen the one-paragraph letter sent Friday, comes after internal court criticism directed at the judge heading the Microsoft case because of a controversial article he wrote.

The letter lays out plans by Court of First Instance President Bo Vesterdorf to transfer the case away from the current judge and panel to a larger panel which Vesterdorf will head. The European Commission found in March 2004 that Microsoft used its dominance to compete unfairly, fined the world's No. 1 software company 497 million euros ($608.8 million) and ordered it to change its business practices.